A common question we receive from parents is “when can my child start weight training”. This is a difficult question to give a standard answer on because so many variables are at play including the maturity of the athlete (skeletal, neuromuscular, emotional, and mental), the demands of their sport, and their training experience. Our main...
We have previously written about the functional movement screen (FMS) and its’ ability to predict injury although more recent research has called its’ predictive ability into question. The highest quality research on the FMS has occurred in NFL athletes or those training for the NFL combine. The research demonstrates the predictive value of these tests may...
Up to 250,000 athletes will sustain an ACL injury each year and the majority of these patients will require Physical Therapy before and/or after their ACL reconstruction surgery. These athletes may be at risk of future lower extremity injuries either on their involved or uninvolved lower extremity because of inadequate physical therapy, poor movement patterns,...
here are not many more controversial topics in the exercise science literature than stretching. While most believe stretching is an important component of a fitness or rehabilitation program the debate occurs on the timing, frequency, duration, type, direction, and intensity of the stretching program. Recently, a large push in corrective exercise programs involves mobilizing joints...
Previously we wrote about the positive impacts of exercise on the body’s tissues. The benefits of exercise is based on the ability of your rehabilitation program to properly load and unload an injured tissue allowing it to remodel and heal. The optimal amount of load is key with both ends of spectrum, over doing it...
In a prior blog posts we discussed the effects of stretching on fitness, performance and flexibility. We are often prescribing mobility exercises to restore movement to a joint or body region (thoracic spine and rib cage) in order to improve movement patterns for performance, pain relief, or as part of a weekly fitness program. While...
ACL sprains and complete tears are of the most common injuries we encounter at Mend Physical Therapy. Prior posts in our blog have detailed many topics on ACL injury including prevention, treatment, and return to sport. As ski season approaches in Colorado some of our fellow skiers will injure their ACL contributing to an estimated 250,000...
In our practice, we commonly see adolescent baseball athletes suffering from shoulder and elbow injuries. On average 1 in 2 youth throwers will develop arm injuries and on average major league throwers lose 22 days per season due to arm injury (Conte et al. 2001). These injuries are mainly overuse in nature secondary to muscle...
Hydration, electrolytes, salt and pickle water are all common internet solutions for muscle cramping. These remedies are based off the assumption that muscle cramping is secondary to imbalances in electrolyes (potassium, sodium) or hydration levels. In particular, when athletes are dehydrated there is a decrease in the water content, concentrating many elements in the bloodstream...
Introduction Low back pain (LBP) is a common, disabling condition with both musculoskeletal and non musculoskeletal contributions. It has been reported that greater than 80% of individuals will experience LBP within their lifetime and 20-30% of individuals are affected with these symptoms at any point in time[1]. Katz et al. reported the cumulative cost to...
